1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connector fitting structure in which a half-fitted condition is positively prevented by a resilient force of a resilient member mounted on at least one of a pair of male and female connectors to be fittingly connected together, and the connector can be positively locked to the mating connector in a fitted manner.
The present invention is based on Japanese patent applications No. 2000-222522 and No. 2000-222596 which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Usually, many electronic equipments for effecting various controls are mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, and therefore many wire harnesses and flat cables have been used. There have been used male and female connectors of various constructions which have a waterproof function since they are used in a severe environment in which vibrations and submergence are encountered, and besides these connectors are so constructed as to be easily connected to and disconnected from a wire harness or the like in view of an assembling process and the maintenance.
Next, one example of conventional connector fitting structures will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 11.
As shown in FIG. 10, a male connector (one connector) 50 of the connector fitting structure includes an inner housing 52, which has terminal receiving chambers for respectively receiving a predetermined number of socket contacts, and is open to the front side thereof, and an outer housing 51 which has a slider (slide lock member) 60 (described later) slidably mounted at an upper portion thereof, and forms a hood portion covering the outer periphery of the inner housing 52.
The outer housing 51 is provided to form a slider receiving portion 53 for receiving the slider 60, and guide grooves 55 for respectively guiding opposite side portions of the slider 60 are formed respectively in inner surfaces of opposite side walls of the housing. Within the slider receiving portion 53, a lock arm 56, having an elastic free front end portion, is formed integrally on the inner housing 52 along the axis in a fitting direction. Between the lock arm 56 and the inner surfaces of the housing, there is provided inner wall surfaces 53a. 
A pair of housing locks 58 for retaining engagement with engagement projections 83 (see FIG. 11) on a mating housing (described later) are formed on an upper surface of the lock arm 56 at the distal end thereof, and a pressing portion 59, which is operated when canceling the fitted condition, is formed on a central portion of the lock arm. An insertion space 56a for allowing the insertion of a pressing rib 82 on a female connector 80 (described later) is formed in a front portion of the lock arm 56 including the housing locks 58.
A pair of retaining arms 57 for temporarily preventing the rearward movement of the slider 60 are provided at a rear portion of the slider receiving portion 53 along the axis in the fitting direction, and each of these retaining arms has a retaining projection formed at its elastic free rear end portion.
The slider 60 comprises a first slide member 61 for sliding movement in the slider receiving portion 53 while guided by the guide grooves 55, a second slide member 66 engaged with a rear portion of the first slide member 61, and compression springs (resilient members) 73 held in the second slide member 66.
The first slide member 61 includes a pair of rearwardly-extending stopper arm portions 63 and 63, which are engaged respectively with one ends of the compression springs 73, and an interconnecting portion 64 interconnecting these arm portions. An abutment portion 65, against which the pressing rib 82 on the female connector 30, can abut, is formed in the lower side of the interconnecting portion 64.
A pair of slide grooves 62 and 62 for allowing the movement of engagement arm portions (described later) of the second slide member 66 are formed in opposite ends of the interconnecting portion 64, respectively.
The second slide member 66 is slidably fitted at its outer side portions in the guide grooves 55, and has retaining portions 67 which extend forwardly from a lower portion of a front end thereof, and respectively retain the housing locks 58, formed at the distal end of the lock arm 56, when these housing locks are displaced. A passage notch 67a for allowing the passage of the pressing rib 82 of the female connector 80 (described later) is formed between front ends of the retaining portions 67.
An elastic operating portion 69, which is operated when canceling the fitted condition, is formed at an upper portion of the second slide member 66 at a widthwise-central portion thereof, and this operating portion 69 covers the pressing portion 59 of the lock arm 56 in overlying relation thereto when the slider is inserted into the slider receiving portion 53.
The pair of elastic engagement arm portions 68 and 68 for retaining engagement with the stopper arm portions 63 of the first slide member 61 are provided respectively at the opposite side portions of the second slide member 66 at a lower portion thereof.
Spring receiving chambers 71 for respectively receiving and holding the compression springs 73 are formed respectively in inner surfaces of the opposite side walls. of the second slide member 66. The compression springs 73 are inserted respectively into the spring receiving chambers 71, and the engagement arm portions 68 are brought into engagement with the stopper arm portions 63, respectively, and by doing so, the first slide member 61 and the second slide member 66 are combined together in a generally unitary manner.
As shown in FIG. 11, the female connector (the other connector) 80 has a housing insertion port 84 open to the front side thereof, and a predetermined number of pin contacts 85 project into the interior of this insertion port in a fitting direction. The pressing rib 82 for abutment against the abutment portion; 65 of the first slide member 61 is formed upright on a central portion of an outer surface of the housing 81. The pair of engagement projections 83 and 83 for elastically deforming the lock arm 56 and for engagement with the housing locks 58 are formed respectively on opposite side surfaces of the pressing rib 82.
Next, the operation for fitting the male and female connectors of the above construction together will be described.
First, the slider 60, shown in FIG. 10, is assembled. For assembling the slider 60, the pair of compression springs 73 are inserted respectively into the spring receiving chambers 71 in the second slide member 66, and then the stopper arm portions 63 and 63 of the first slide member 61 are inserted into the spring receiving chambers 71, respectively. Then, the engagement arm portions 68 and 68 are engaged respectively with the stopper arm portions 63 and 63, thereby combining the first and second slide members 61 and 66 together into a unitary form, with the compression springs 73 held respectively in the spring receiving chambers 71.
For mounting the slider 60 on the male connector 50, the slider 60 is pushed into the slider receiving portion 53 from the front side of the male connector 50. At this time, the outer side portions of the stopper arm portions 63 of the first slide member 61, the opposite end portions of the interconnecting portion 64, and the opposite side portions of the second slide member 66 are fitted into the guide grooves 55, and the rear end of the second slide member 66 is brought into abutting engagement with the retaining arms 57 whereupon the mounting of the slider 60 is completed. In this condition, the slider 60 is temporarily retained by the retaining arms 57, but a compressive force is not exerted in the compression springs 73. Here, description of the insertion of the contacts into the terminal receiving chambers in the male connector 50 is omitted.
Next, the operation for fitting the male and female connectors 50 and 80 together will be described.
The inner housing 52 of the male connector 50 and the housing insertion port 84 of the female connector 80 are arranged in facing relation to each other as shown in FIG. 11, and in this condition the operation for fitting the male and female connectors together is started in such a manner that the outer housing 51 of the male connector 50 is fitted on the housing 81 of the female connector 80. At this time, the pressing rib 82 of the female connector 80 fits into the passage notch 67a (see FIG. 10) in the second slide member 66, and the front end of the pressing rib 82 abuts against the abutment portion 65 of the first slide member 61 as shown in FIG. 12.
When the fitting operation further proceeds, the pressing rib 82 of the female connector 80, while pushing the first slide member 61, is inserted into the insertion space 56a (see FIG. 10) in the lock arm 56 of the male connector 50. At this time, the engagement projections 83, formed at the front end of the pressing rib 82, are brought into sliding contact with slanting surfaces of the housing locks 58, formed at the distal end of the lock arm 56, so that the distal end portion of the lock arm 56 is displaced toward the housing 81 of the female connector 80.
As a result, the distal ends of the housing locks 58 are engaged respectively with the retaining portions 67 of the second slide member 66, so that the second slide member 66 can not slide together with the first slide member 61.
When the fitting operation further proceeds, the first slide member 61 is pushed and moved rearward by the pressing rib 82. At this time, the engagement arm portions 68 of the second slide member 66 are allowed to be introduced respectively into the slide grooves 62 formed respectively in the opposite side portions of the first slide member 61. Thus, the first slide member 61 is moved while the second slide member 66 is stopped, and therefore the compression springs 73 in the second slide member 66 are compressed, so that a resilient restoring force is produced.
If the fitting operation is stopped in a half-fitted condition in which the housing locks 58 of the male connector 50 are not completely engaged respectively with the engagement projections 83 of the female connector 80, the first slide member 61 is pushed back in a disengaging direction (opposite to the fitting direction) by the resilient force of the compression springs 73. As a result, the female connector 80 is pushed back through the pressing rib 82 abutted against the abutment portion 65 of the first slide member 61, and therefore the half-fitted condition can be easily detected.
Then, when the fitting operation further proceeds against the bias of the compression springs 73, the engagement projections 83 of the female connector 80 slide respectively past the housing locks 58 formed at the distal end of the lock arm 56, so that the lock arm is elastically restored. As a result, the engagement of the distal end of each housing lock 58 with the retaining portion 67, formed at the distal end of the second slide member 66, is canceled, so that the housing lock 58 is engaged with the rear end of the engagement projection 83, as shown in FIG. 12. Therefore, the male connector 50 and the female connector 80 are completely fitted together, and contacts 54 in the male connector are electrically connected respectively to contacts 85 in the female connector.
At this time, the maximum compressive force, exerted in the compression springs 73, is released as a result of cancellation of the engagement of each housing lock 58 with the retaining portion 67, and the second slide member 66 is moved rearward against the retaining force of the elastically-deformable retaining arms 57, and is brought into an initial position relative to the first slide member 61.
At this time, the operating portion (69, so far covering the pressing portion 59 on the lock arm 56, is moved rearward, so that the pressing portion 59 is exposed upwardly.
Also, the retaining portions 67 of the second slide member 66 are moved into a flexure space for the distal end portion of the lock arm 56, so that the lock arm 56 is locked against elastic deformation. Therefore, the completely-fitted condition of the male and female connectors 50 and 80 can be easily detected through a feeling, obtained upon engagement of each housing lock 58 with the engagement projection 83, and also through the exposure of the pressing portion 59.
For canceling the above completely-fitted condition, the operating portion 69 of the second slide member 66 is moved forward by the finger or other against the bias of the compression springs 73 to a position where this operating portion 69 covers the pressing portion 59 of the lock arm 56, as shown in FIG. 13. Then, when the operating portion 69 is pressed down to depress the pressing portion 59, the housing locks 58 of the lock arm 56 are displaced downward, so that the engagement of the housing locks 58 with the engagement projections 83 is canceled. At this time, the first slide member 61 is pushed forward by the resilient force of the compressed compression springs 73.
As a result, the female connector 80 is pushed back in the disengaging direction through the pressing rib 82 of the female connector 80 abutted against the abutment portion 65 of the first slide member 61. Therefore, the disengaging force, required for disengaging the connectors from each other, can be reduced, and the efficiency of the disengaging operation can be enhanced.
In the above conventional half-fitting prevention connector, however, the following problems have been encountered during the fitting operation and the fitting-cancellation operation.
First, with respect to the problem encountered during the fitting operation, the rear end of the second slide member 66 is extended, and therefore when the completely-fitted condition is achieved as shown in FIG. 12, the rear end of the second slide member 66 strikes hard against the inner wall surfaces 53a (see FIG. 11) of the slider receiving portion 53. Therefore, there has been a fear that cracking and chipping develop in the inner wall surfaces 53a. 
Next, with respect to the problem encountered during the fitting-cancellation operation, for effecting this fitting-cancellation operation, first, the slider 60 must be drawn in a direction of arrow X, and then must be pressed in a direction of arrow Y. Namely, the two-step operation is required, and there has been a fear that the distal end of the slider 60, when excessively pressed down, is broken.
And besides, during the cancellation operation, the pressing portion 59 descends in sliding contact with the side surface of the first slide member 61, and therefore the enhanced operability for operating the slider in the direction of arrow Y has been prevented.
Further, in the above conventional half-fitting prevention connector, the following problems have been encountered when the slider 60 is mounted in the slider receiving portion 53.
Namely, the first slide member 61 of the slider 60 is not retained on the housing 51, and hence is not retained on the slider receiving portion 53, and the compression springs 73 do not urge the first slide member 61. Therefore, a clearance, that is, a dimensional play, develops between the first slide member 61 and other members, and this has been the cause for the production of noises.
In addition, if the first slide member 61 is urged by the compression springs 73 in order to prevent the production of such noises, there has been encountered a problem that the first slide member 61 projects from the front end of the housing 51.
With the above problems in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide a connector fitting structure in which a half-fitted condition is positively prevented when a pair of male and female connectors are fittingly connected together, and an enhanced operability for the fitting-cancellation operation, as well as the prevention of breakage, can be achieved.
Further, it is also an object of the present invention to provide a connector fitting structure in which a slider is mounted in a slider receiving chamber, formed in one of a pair of male and female connectors, without rattling.
The above problems to be dealt with by the present invention have been solved by connector fitting structures recited in the following Paragraphs 1) to 4):
1) A connector fitting structure comprising: a first connector having an inner housing opening to a front side thereof including a lock arm, and an outer housing covering the inner housing and provided with a slider receiving portion for slidably receiving a slider therein; the slider including a first slide member for reciprocally sliding within the first connector in a connector fitting direction, a second slide member engaged with a rear portion of the first slide member, and an resilient member for urging the first and second slide members away from each other; a second connector fitted to the first connector and having an engagement projection for abutment against one end of the slider and for deforming the lock arm; a first retaining portion projecting downwardly from an inner surface of the outer housing; and a second retaining portion provided at a distal end of a first engagement arm formed on the second slide member; wherein the first and second retaining portions are engaged with each other before fitting of the first and second connectors and after canceling the fitted state of the first and second connectors, and disengaged from each other at the time of fitting of the first and second connectors; and wherein slanting surfaces are provided both on the first and second retaining portions, so that the second retaining portion smoothly engages with the first retaining portion by a sliding movement of the second sliding member in one direction, when the fitted condition of the first and second connectors is cancelled.
In the connector fitting structure of the above construction, when the second retaining portion, formed at the end of each first engagement arm, slides over the first retaining portion, formed at the one end of the inner surface facing the slider receiving portion, and is engaged with this first retaining portion at the time of canceling the fitted condition of the first and second connectors (therefore a pair of male and female connectors), this engagement can be effected smoothly since the slanting surfaces are formed respectively on those portions of the first and second retaining portions which can be brought into sliding contact with each other.
2) A connector fitting structure comprising: a first connector having an inner housing opening to a front side thereof including a lock arm, and an outer housing covering the inner housing and provided with a slider receiving portion for slidably receiving a slider therein; the slider including a first slide member for reciprocally sliding within the first connector in a connector fitting direction, a second slide member engaged with a rear portion of the first slide member, and an resilient member for urging the first and second slide members away from each other; a second connector fitted to the first connector and having an engagement projection for abutment against one end of the slider and for deforming the lock arm; a first retaining portion projecting downwardly from an inner surface of the outer housing; a second retaining portion provided at a distal end of a first engagement arm formed on the second slide member; and an operating portion integrally formed on the first engagement arm for operating to slide the second slide member in the slider receiving portion at the time of canceling the fitted state of the first and second connectors; wherein the first and second retaining portions are engaged with each other before fitting of the first and second connectors and after canceling the fitted state of the first and second connectors, and disengaged from each other at the time of fitting of the first and second connectors; and wherein the operating portion is abutted against an end of the first retaining portion, thereby detecting the engagement between the first and second retaining portions at the time of canceling the fitted state of the first and second connectors.
In the connector fitting structure of the above construction, at the time of canceling the fitted condition of the male and female connectors, one end of the operating portion for sliding the second slide member abuts against the end of the first retaining portion formed at the one end of the inner surface facing the slider receiving portion, and the cancellation of the fitted condition can be detected by whether or not this abutment has occurred, and therefore the operability for the fitting-cancellation operation is greatly enhanced.
3) A connector fitting structure comprising: a first connector having an inner housing opening to a front side thereof including a lock arm, and an outer housing covering the inner housing and provided with a slider receiving portion for slidably receiving a slider therein; the slider including a first slide member for reciprocally sliding within the first connector in a connector fitting direction, a second slide member engaged with a rear portion of the first slide member, and an resilient member for urging the first and second slide members away from each other; a second connector fitted to the first connector and having an engagement projection for abutment against one end of the slider and for deforming the lock arm; a first retaining portion projecting downwardly from an inner surface of the outer housing; a second retaining portion provided at a distal end of a first engagement arm formed on the second slide member; and an operating portion integrally formed on the first engagement arm for operating to slide the second slide member in the slider receiving portion at the time of canceling the fitted state of the first and second connectors; wherein a tapering surface is formed on an upper surface of the second slide member, facing the slider receiving portion at the time of fitting of the first and second connectors, so that an area of contact between the second slide member and the slider receiving portion at the time of fitting of the first and second connectors is reduced.
In the connector fitting structure of the above construction, at the time of fitting the male and female connectors together, the second slide member is urged toward the rear end of the slider receiving portion. However, the tapering surface is formed at the rear end of the operating portion opposed to a corner portion at the rear end of the slider receiving portion, and therefore the rear end of the operating portion will not abut against the corner portion of the slider receiving portion over an entire area thereof, thereby preventing cracking and chipping.
4) A connector fitting structure comprising: a first connector having an inner housing opening to a front side thereof including a lock arm, and an outer housing covering the inner housing and provided with a slider receiving portion for slidably receiving a slider therein; the slider including a first slide member for reciprocally sliding within the first connector in a connector fitting direction, a second slide member engaged with a rear portion of the first slide member, and an resilient member for urging the first and second slide members away from each other; a second connector fitted to the first connector and having an engagement projection for abutment against one end of the slider and for deforming the lock arm; a first retaining portion projecting downwardly from an inner surface of the outer housing; a second retaining portion provided at a distal end of a first engagement arm formed on the second slide member; a slider retaining portion for preventing the withdrawal of the slider formed on an inner surface of the slider receiving portion; and a retaining projection for engaging with the slider retaining portion formed on a side of the first slide member; wherein the retaining projection is retained by the slider retaining portion, thereby preventing the slider from being withdrawn from the slider receiving portion, when the slider is mounted in the slider receiving portion.
In the connector fitting structure of the above construction, when the slider is mounted in the slider receiving portion, the retaining projection, formed on the first slide member, is retained by the slider retaining portion. At this time, the first slide member is urged by the resilient member, and therefore the retaining projection is held against the slider retaining portion, so that the production of noises and the withdrawal of the slider from the slider receiving portion can be prevented.